IICPSD’s Partners HP and ERTEV Launch Maker Bus Initiative to Support STEM Training in Rural Schools

November 29, 2019

Bursa, Turkey, November 29, 2019 - Ermetal Technological Education Foundation (ERTEV) and HP launched their joint Maker Bus initiative in Bursa, Turkey, on 29 November 2019. The Maker Bus will introduce STEM training to remote rural and disadvantaged schools for more than a thousand children aged 10-13 with also mobilizing volunteers from HP and beyond.

Long-term partners of UNDP and IICPSD, ERTEV Foundation and HP came together to synergize their complementary strengths in making STEM trainings available to disadvantaged groups. The Maker Bus initiative leverages ERTEV foundation’s expertise and experience in providing skills training, including technical and vocational training, professional skills development as well as STEM trainings. As one of the global leaders in technology, HP provided technology products and solutions for the Maker Bus as well as the dedicated HP Volunteers who joined the efforts to support STEM training in rural schools.

The Maker Bus initiative aims to support national educational institutions, municipalities and public institutions in providing STEM trainings to disadvantaged children. The trainings will prepare them for the Future of Work and allow them to gain valuable skills sets including 21st-century skills. With the “imagine, design, produce” understanding at core, the partners aim to enable the future generations to shift from consumption to production. This “Maker” approach aims at supporting children to use their creativeness, to innovate and to manufacture new products. The trainings also aim to develop tech literacy, productivity, problem solving and critical thinking abilities among the students.

Following a volunteerism-based approach to STEM training, ERTEV Foundation provided a training of trainers to HP Volunteers during the first phase of the initiative. The HP Volunteers are now providing the STEM training to the school children in the Maker Bus. The activities include 3D modelling and printing workshops, coding, robotics and woodworking workshops. Through the Maker Bus, the school children acquire hands-on experience and learn the real-word applications of the technologies they will be using. The skills they gain will enable contributions to digital transformation and high-tech production which will support sustainable development.

The launch took place with the participation of Mr. Markus Schwertel, Lead of Government Relations for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa of HP Inc., HP Turkey General Director Mr. Emre Alaman, Mr. Fahrettin Gülener, the Founder and Chairman of Ermetal Group of Companies and representatives from the Bursa Provincial Directorate of National Education participated in the launch. UNDP IICPSD will continue its collaboration with ERTEV and HP Foundation to support STEM skills development globally.